Hell Fire Of The Past And Future

Two words of the Holy Scriptures, the Hebrew word (pronounced) sheol and the Greek word (pronounced) hades, although often translated as "hell" in the King James Version, actually mean death, or the grave - the place, or state of being, where the dead now await their resurrection (see The Sleep Of Death and Resurrections).

Why did the KJV translators use "hell" to translate words that meant "grave"?

They did so because, when the KJV was written in 1611, the English word "hell" meant the grave. They translated those Hebrew and Greek words accurately, according to the literal meanings of them, and of the English word at the time. The King James Version translators would not agree with those who interpret their use of "hell" in any other way than the grave, or simply the place of death.

According to the The Consolidated Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary, the English word "hell" originated from an old Anglo-Saxon word which meant to cover; it was used to refer to the grave. "Hell" and "hole" are merely different pronunciations of the same original word.

So what does fire have to do with the actual meaning of "hell," the grave, in the Holy Bible? There are two reasons.

The first is that evil people were often sent to their graves by fire - they were burned to death. "Hell fire" was fire that sent wicked people to hell, their graves, into a state of being dead - to await their resurrection of Judgment.

"2:6 The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave ["hell"], and bringeth up." (1 Samuel 2:6 KJV)

"14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." (Isaiah 14:15 KJV)

The second is that after the time of salvation has been completed, fire will be used to put to death the unrepentant, sending them to "hell," to their graves, permanently (see the Fact Finder question below).

"20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:14-15 KJV)

"What meaneth the heat"?

The English word "brimstone" is actually just a present-day pronunciation of the Old English burnstone, or burning stone, which itself originated from an Icelandic word for sulphur i.e. "brimstone" was widely found around volcano areas in Iceland. Burning sulphur, wherever it's found, is the Biblical "brimstone."

It was burning sulphur that the LORD (see 'Before Abraham Was, I AM') rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The result was that the wicked people of those cities were sent to their graves by that "hell fire."

"19:24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven [i.e. the "lower" heaven, the atmosphere; see Are We In Heaven Now?];
19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." (Genesis 19:24-28 KJV)

19:27 And Abraham [see What Made Abraham Righteous?; also Abraham And The King Of Sodom] gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: 19:28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." (Genesis 19:27-28 KJV)

The Holy Bible itself explains why fire is used; it represents the "heat" of God's anger upon those who choose to behave wickedly.

"29:23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 29:24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?" (Deuteronomy 29:23-24 KJV)

"11:4 The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. 11:6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." (Psalm 11:4-6 KJV)

"17:29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 17:30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:29-30 KJV)

Humans have their own version of weapons of "hell" (e.g. "hellfire missiles"). Unfortunately, some are going to use them to attempt to fight the returning Messiah. It will be a "fire fight" that those humans are going to lose (see also The Coming World Dictator).

"9:14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 9:15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. 9:16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.

9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. 9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. 9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: 9:21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Revelation 9:14-21 KJV)

The day of Christ's return will be when the "lake of fire burning with brimstone" begins to burn (see the Fact Finder question below).

"19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 19:12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 19:13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 19:14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 19:15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 19:16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING of kings, and LORD OF lords.

19:17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; 19:18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

19:19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." (Revelation 19:11-20 KJV)

When all has been done, the earth will be purified with fire. Death itself will be put to death (see Death's Obituary).

"21:6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:6-8 KJV)

1743: King George II of Britain defeated the French at Dettingen in the War of the Austrian Succession. He was the last British monarch to lead his troops into battle.

1759: British General James Wolfe landed his army near Quebec City and blocked the St. Lawrence River to French shipping. After a siege that lasted 75 days, the 33 year-old Wolfe led his troops up the cliff behind Quebec City to the Plains of Abraham (September 13) where they defeated Montcalm's garrison and captured the city. Both commanders died in battle.

1787: Edward Gibbon wrote the last lines of his classic "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

1801: British forces defeated the French and took control of Cairo, Egypt.

1844: Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, and his brother Hyrum Smith, were killed by a mob in an Illinois jail.

1893: A major stock market plunge began in the U.S.A., leading to an economic depression in which 600 banks and 74 railroads went out of business by the end of the year.

1898: The first solo circumnavigation of the earth was completed by Joshua Slocum of Briar Island, Nova Scotia.

1905: Mutinous Russian soldiers seized the battleship Potemkin in the Black Sea, throwing the commander and several other officers overboard.

1918: Two German pilots became the first to be saved by parachutes.

1954: The world's first nuclear power station began operation, in Obninsk, Russia.

1967: The world's first ATM went into service, in London, England.

1976: Members of the Baader-Meinhof gang, a German terrorist organization inspired by Soviet anti-Semitic propaganda, hijacked an Air France airliner flying from Paris to Tel Aviv and forced it to land in Idi Amin's Uganda. They then set apart the 83 Israelis to be murdered if Israel did not release 53 Palestinian terrorists being held in Israel. The hostages were rescued by Israeli commandos in the "Entebbe Raid" 6 days later.

1991: After declaring independence a few days earlier, Slovenia was invaded by Yugoslav military forces, beginning the Ten-Day War.